gaming Shin Megami Tensei Super Thread

[Discordian 6,021]

Welcome to the big ol' SMT thread of awesome. Love the franchise as a whole? Just certain parts? Here's where it's at!

 

Preliminary questions:

 

Which game was your first SMT?

Which endings do you normally go for?

Favorite subfranchise?

Favorite game in general?

Favorite demons/personas?

Favorite endings?

Favorite song(s)?

 

For those not in the know: Shin Megami Tensei (or just Megami Tensei in its earlier iterations) is an RPG series created by Atlus. Their flagship series, the games have no single continuity but instead focus on stories involving some form of apocalypse and how you, the main character, go about surviving or even conquering this end of the world with the help of friends and/or demons that are now plaguing our world.

 

You're given many choices throughout most of the games that will lead you to many different endings pointing to every direction on the moral scale.

 

The series also branches across many RPG genres from strategy to action, roguelike and just good ol' turn-based. There's something for everyone!

 

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Now for my own answers!

 

Which game was your first SMT?

 

Technically I started with Devil Survivor but I hadn't played much of it before I got my hands on Persona 3 which was my first real foray into the franchise, even if it is only a spinoff.

 

Which endings do you normally go for?

 

Honestly I haven't even beaten more than one or two of the games yet. I usually get stuck on some douchey boss near the end of the game so I couldn't really tell you which one I prefer to go for in each.

 

Favorite subfranchise? (Includes the main series games)

 

For me it's definitely Digital Devil Saga. Still need to finish DDS2 but the first game really blew me away. And even during that game you can tell it's just the tip of the iceberg. I can't wait to see what DDS2 has in store for me. I'm only a few hours in and it's already showing signs it's gonna be a great finale.

 

Favorite game in general?

 

Probably Nocturne. Everything from it's atmosphere to levels just blows me away. Even among the rest of the franchise this one portrays the apocalypse the best of all the ones I've played.

 

Favorite demons/personas?

 

Can't say I've really grown attached to any particular ones. They're little more than expendable equipment when I use them.

 

Favorite endings?

 

Couldn't really say since I haven't played any of them more than once to really get a feel for everything and I've only ever beaten the Persona games which offers even less knowledge.

 

I do know that I love the True Demon ending of Nocturne. I can't wait to see what they do with this later in the franchise, if anything. The final battle with

YVHV

maybe?

 

Favorite song(s)?

 

I couldn't narrow it down to just a few. The franchise's music is just so amazing and quite varied too.

 

---

 

I may be a little bit of a fanboy in spite of the fact that I haven't played a lot of them and beaten even fewer.

 

YOUR TURN, MEGATEN FANS.

[PoisonClaw 8,174]

Arg, you beat me to it! I have been bouncing around the idea for this exact thread for a while and have just been too lazy to make it. Oh well...

 

Which game was your first SMT?

That would be the puzzle platformer Catherine. I know this is just about as far away as you can get from traditional SMT, but it's still a fun game in its own right. 

 

Which endings do you normally go for?

The only SMT game I've played with more than one ending would be Nocturne (which I haven't beaten yet) but at the time I was actually going for the Reason of Musubi, Isamu's world of solitude and isolation.   
 

Favorite subfranchise?

Considering I've played a grand total of three games in the franchise as a whole, I haven't really been exposed to enough to gauge the different series. I do know I need to play Digital Devil Saga because I only wanted to learn more about the series after seeing it in a Projared video and Devil Survivor because I love tactical RPGs.
 

Favorite game in general?

Still Catherine, but Persona 3 is a close second
 

Favorite demons/personas?

Horus, Arahabaki, Hell Biker, Inugami, Cu Chulainn, Yamata no Orochi and Thor.

 

Additional question for Persona 3 & 4 players: What was you favorite Social Link(s) to pursue? Mine so far would be the Sun and Hanged Man links in 3. There's a good reason these two links are connected as both deal with sacrifice in a way that just brought tears to my eyes.

Edited February 7, 2015 by PoisonClaw

[Discordian 6,021]

So SMTIV is easily my favorite game in the series. It does so much right. My absolute favorite thing though is the fact that demons only stay in your party for a little while. As soon as you get them whether from fusion or recruitment they only have one or two abilities to learn and they will get them within two or three levels. It really speeds up the process and allows you to fuse things with much more efficiency.

 

I'm replaying Persona 3 right now and I'm still trying to max out some of my first personae so I can fuse them...I'm halfway to the second full moon boss.

[Magnum Flare 553]

Bumping

 

Which game was your first SMT?

Persona 3 FES. I remember heard rumors that it's a good game, so I bought it. Super fan ever since.

Which endings do you normally go for?

Persona is no brainer, True Ending. for SMT, I'd tend to choose Neutral/Chaos.

Favorite subfranchise?

Persona Series

Favorite game in general?

Persona 4. I've done 3rd playthrough.

Favorite demons/personas?

Persona: Yoshitsune, Trumpeter, Izanagi No Okami, Thanatos, Messiah.

Demons differ from each game so it would be difficult.

Favorite endings?

Persona 3 FES

Favorite song(s)?

Persona 4 Boss Battle Theme

 

I'm adding something

 

What's your favorite skill?

Hassou Tobi for me. 8 weak physical is 2x more effective than Primal Force, the Phys attack with the highest power. Hassou Tobi makes every boss in NG+ Persona game easy.

 

Multi Strike for DeSu/DeSu 2. Again. Multi Strike sweeps enemy easily. Combine with Phys Amp+Boost and the boss wouldn't stand a chance.

Edited February 23, 2015 by FabulousNightmare

[Discordian 6,021]

It's really hard to pick any one skill. They all have different uses in different situations and no skill is all-powerful usually.

 

Early on in DeSu the elemental dance skills tend to be really good, particularly against single enemies where it will just hit them multiple times but later the Ma- skills come into play and will be generally more useful. The only one I consistently use (and only because I still haven't beaten the game and don't know if there's anything better) is Holy Dance because it's nigh-unblockable. The massive MP cost kills a lot of it's usefulness though. It's better for shorter battles. Drawn out ones will have you running out of MP way too fast.

[Magnum Flare 553]

Well in Devil Survivor (2) my go-to combo are 

 

MC: Multi Strike with Pierce, Phys Amp and Drain Hit. The only hazard is demons with Repel Phys (Girimehkala)

Phys attacker: Ultimate Hit, Attack All, and Double Hit with Rage Soul. Combine them all in a character can pretty much kill everyone.

Edited February 24, 2015 by FabulousNightmare

[Discordian 6,021]

I always went with a magic main character. Magic MCs are really good for both healing and offense while specing your demons to do all the physical and other elemental stuff.

 

I've been doing a phys/bullet MC in SMTIV and I've found that I still get way more use out of elemental stuff so he's loaded with elemental, support and healing skills up the wazoo on top of his massively powerful physical skills. Too bad my magic stat is only like 20 while my strength is 118.